Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 22 November 2017 were confirmed as correct.

The Assembly received and noted the minutes of the Joint JNC Salaries & Conditions and Appointments Panel held on 8 January 2018.

The Leader will present his statement.

The Leader of the Council presented a verbal statement updating the Assembly on a range of matters since the last meeting including:

- The launch of the East London Women’s Museum, which will open in 2019/20;

- The ground-breaking ceremony for the new £6m Youth Zone, the first of its kind in London;

- The raising of the Rainbow flag the following morning to celebrate the start of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) month;

- The launch of the Wall of Shame on the Council’s website, aimed at catching those who break laws and fly tip in the Borough; and

- The distribution of the Good Neighbour Guide, which set out some of the basic principles that people were expected to abide by.

The Labour Group Secretary will announce any nominations to fill vacant positions on Council committees or other bodies.

There were no appointments.

The Assembly received the BAD Youth Forum’s 16^th Annual report, introduced by the Group Manager for Integrated Youth Services who was accompanied by representatives of the Youth Forum.

The Group Manager advised that the Forum was made up of 60 young people, elected from schools and youth groups in the Borough, who undertook a number of activities and initiatives.  One key initiative was the creation of sub-groups, which considered the following:

·  Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Sub Group:  The Sub Group, following a group decision to work on a CSE campaign, met with representatives from Barnado’s who were training Sub-Group members to become CSE Ambassadors.  The Sub-Group decided to focus particularly on grooming and the members made a short film to raise awareness of the ‘grooming line’, which addressed the different stages of grooming.

·  Young Mayor’s Sub-Group: The Sub-Group raised £3,482 for the Young Carers project through a variety of fundraisers such as cake sales, non-uniform school days, a cricket match and a charity football tournament.

·  Young Inspectors Sub-Group:  The Sub-Group focussed on sexual health and undertook 150 inspections of pharmacies who had signed up to the ‘Come Correct’ scheme.  Arising from the inspections, 18 pharmacies had made improvements.

In addition to the regular activities that Forum members took part in during the course of the year, special activities included:

- Visiting the Houses of Parliament to learn more about national politics;

- Participating in the Borough’s Youth Parade; and

- Attending a day of activities at Stubbers Outdoor Activity Centre.

The Assembly was pleased to hear that former members of the Forum were still involved in its work, offering support and guidance which was very much appreciated by the current members.

Following the presentation, a number of Councillors paid tribute to the excellent work of the Forum throughout the year and particularly mention was made of the positive impact of the work of the CSE Sub-Group.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Growth and Investment presented a report on the proposal to retain the existing Council Tax Support Scheme and £50,000 discretionary hardship fund, in order to continue to support local residents who found themselves in exceptional hardship.

The Assembly resolved that the Council Tax Support Scheme implemented for 2017/18 be retained for 2018/19.

No Motions have been received.

There were none.

Question 1

  From Councillor Jones

Can the Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration provide Councillors with an update on how the local hospitals performed over recent weeks?

Response

The Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration advised that the latest figures from the Department of Health showed that the Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust was the 24^th worst performing out of 237 trusts in respect of patients waiting more than four hours in Accident and Emergency Departments.  On a positive note, however, and despite the much publicised problems across the country, the excellent work of the Council’s Mental Health Crisis Intervention team had meant that there had been only one case of delayed discharge  from hospital in the same period.

Supplementary Question

Councillor Jones enquired as to whether the Health and Wellbeing Board (HWBB) could assist in help the hospitals to improve?

The Cabinet Member advised that although the HWBB wished to have open dialogue in order to resolve service problems, the Hospitals Trust was less forthcoming.

Question 2

From Councillor Jones

Can the Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration comment on whether the change of job title for the Secretary of State will go far towards fixing the problems being faced in the NHS?

Response

The Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration advised that the former Department of Health had always included responsibility for social care, although the change of name to the Department for Health and Social Care could assist in moving the social care system higher up the Secretary of State’s priority list.

Question 3

From Councillor Miah

Will the relevant Cabinet Member update the Assembly on the Council’s bid to become the London Borough of Culture?

Response

The Leader explained that the London Borough of Culture was a new culture initiative from the Mayor of London.  The Council had a bold and ambitious long-term plan to put culture at the heart of the Borough and had bid to be the first London Borough of Culture in 2019, which carried an award of £1.1m.  The winner would be announced on 27 February 2018.

Question 4

From Councillor Fergus

Can the Cabinet Member for Educational Attainment and School Improvement explain what action is being taken to ensure that more students from Barking and Dagenham gain a place at university?

Response

The Cabinet Member for Educational Attainment and School Improvement advised that the number of Barking and Dagenham residents attending university had risen significantly over the past few years. 

Building on that, the ‘Aimhigher’ service, which was unique to Barking and Dagenham and had the full support of Borough schools, was established to develop, coordinate and deliver activities to support progression to higher education and its management was in regular contact with University outreach departments.

Question 5

From Councillor Haroon

Following recent reports of properties operating as brothels and cannabis factories being found in Barking and Dagenham, can the relevant Cabinet Member update the Assembly on what progress is  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.